Metabolic Oscillation Phenomena in Clostridia Species—A Review

Abstract

Clostridia are interesting candidates for biotechnological applications due to their diverse and unique metabolic abilities. Particularly in continuous fermentation processes, productivity-decreasing metabolic oscillations have been reported in many species. The resulting process instability and reduced productivity can be a serious hurdle for the development of industrially feasible processes. This review highlights the current state of knowledge about oscillatory metabolic phenomena in Clostridia, including the mechanisms, assumed and proven, behind those oscillations and methods to mitigate the phenomena if applicable. The nature of observed metabolic oscillations in Clostridia is diverse, including a wide range of periods of oscillation and different parameters in which the oscillation is observed. Some phenomena remain to be investigated further, while others are already well understood. However, knowledge of mechanisms is a very valuable asset in overcoming the metabolic oscillation to create a stable process.